Movie Night
by vamp926
Summary: Written for callmesandy for the ncis ficathon last year.


Tony popped the DVD into the player and turned around to face Ziva, who was sitting on the couch holding a glass of wine, looking at him expectantly.

"Ziva David, are you ready to witness a movie so bad, so horrendous, it's actually good?" Tony asked, his signature goofy smile spreading across his face. Ziva smiled back at him.

"What makes this movie so bad?" she asked, intrigued. Usually Tony restricted their movie nights to award winners or his favorites. He rarely ever took the time to show her a bad movie.

"Just everything," Tony said as he picked the remote up off the coffee table and flopped onto the couch next to Ziva. She had to move quickly to avoid spilling her wine and Tony received a punch in the arm for his actions.

"So, what's it called?" Ziva asked, watching with a sly smile as Tony rubbed his arm where she had punched him.

"A Guy Thing," Tony said, fiddling with the remote to bring the menu up on the TV screen.

"And what's this movie about?" Ziva asked, sipping her wine. Tony took a deep breath, as he always did before explaining the plot of a movie, and started talking.

"This guy has a bachelor party and wakes up with a girl in his bed. He thinks that he slept with her, but it turns out later that nothing happened. The girl that he woke up in bed with also happens to be his fiancée's cousin. So basically this whole movie is them falling for each other. Oh, and his brother is in love with his fiancée," Tony said. Ziva gave him a look.

"Tony," Ziva began but he shushed her.

"Ziva, you'll love it, I promise, now, shush," he said, placing his finger to her lips in an effort to silence her, all the while praying that she didn't decide to bite his finger. Thankfully her mouth remained closed. Tony pulled his finger away from her mouth and pressed play on the remote.

As the movie progressed Ziva found herself enjoying it, despite the stupidity. When the rehearsal dinner part came up, she actually gasped out loud and Tony looked over at her and she looked at him.

"He put pot in the gravy," she said, astounded. Tony grinned.

"Yes, yes he did," Tony replied.

"There's pot, in the gravy," Ziva said, still astounded at what she was witnessing on the TV. "And everyone ate it, and now they're all high."

"Isn't it great?" Tony said, the stupid grin still on his face. Ziva looked at him, and he laughed at the look she gave him.

"Tony, they're HIGH," she said, emphasizing the word high. By now he had paused the movie and was practically rolling at her reaction.

"And isn't it the most brilliant thing ever?" Tony asked. After a moment of consideration, Ziva nodded.

"It is quite brilliant," she conceded._ And stupid_, she thought, but she didn't mind.

By the time the movie ended, Ziva's sides were sore from laughing. She had to admit that Tony had been right, the movie was so bad it was good. She had loved every minute of it, and the ending, although cliché, was perfect. Tony muted the sound and looked over at her.

"Well?" he asked, waiting for her response. Usually after a movie they would discuss and debate various aspects of the film, such as acting, the score, action sequences, and various other things, but with this movie it was sort of pointless. Ziva smiled a little.

"It was funny," she finally conceded. "The underwear bin part was the best though," she said, and Tony threw his head back in laughter.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, neither wanting to move and break the spell. Finally Tony reached for the remote and changed the input on the TV so the cable came on. The last channel he had been watching had been ESPN, making Ziva roll her eyes. On the screen in front of them now was the final inning of a baseball game. From her limited knowledge Ziva figured out that the game was almost over, and judging by the thrilled look on Tony's face his team would win. A few minutes and a cheer from Tony later, Ziva figured the game was over and her guess was confirmed in a few seconds when Tony brought up the guide on the screen to find something else to watch.

She allowed herself to relax and study Tony's movements. She loved watching him at moments like this, looking for something to watch. A million different emotions could cross his face in mere seconds as he scrolled through the channels. They varied from delight to downright disgust. She loved these moments, savored them, maybe even more than the actual movie watching. Tony must have felt her staring because he looked over at her.

"Next week I promise we will return to our regularly scheduled quality movies," he said, causing her to smile.

"I actually quite enjoyed it," Ziva admitted. "Do you think we could watch bad movies more often? I mean, I love watching the good ones, but there's just something about watching a horrendously bad movie…" she trailed off, unsure of how to put her feelings into words.

"I know what you're trying to say," Tony said. He sat back on the couch, his head tilted slightly to one side and Ziva knew that he was thinking. "When you watch a movie, there's pressure to like it, pressure to understand, and sometimes, if you don't, you're left with the feeling that you're stupid or you didn't get the point. When you watch a bad movie you're free to relax and enjoy the movie and all its bad parts. That's how I explain it anyway." Ziva nodded; he had explained her feelings perfectly. He seemed to be getting better at that, reading her, as it were.

"That's exactly how I feel," she said, pausing to finish of the remains of wine in her glass.

"So, what's on the schedule for next week?" Ziva asked, her eyebrows raised in Tony's direction.

"Sherlock Holmes."


End file.
